I'm fuming, I'm royally pissed. You might ask Why? Well today I was on my way to work and was waiting at a red light. There was this dude behind me on his bike who kept honking his horn telling me to run the red light. WTF! I let him pass and as he passes me he actually has the nerve to berate me for not letting him go through the red light ! I guess that's all that's needed to tell you about the behaviour of drivers in Bangalore -rude and have no clue about traffic rules. I was hoping I'd catch up with him at the next red light . I would have sat on his head and forcefully injected him with a dose of Swine Flu culture. Luckily for him he had long disappeared into the maze of auto rickshaws on the road.
And don't get me started on autorickshaws and their obnoxious drivers. Well actually you have - If you get into an accident involving an autorickshaw you are automatically always in the wrong regardless of the fact that the auto driver was driving while simultaneously ogling the girls in his back seat and had run through 3 red lights in the wrong direction and was also smoking an aromatic beedi . Try arguing with an auto driver - by the end of the argument he would have you convinced he was holier than Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul combined.
And then you have the green light honkers - they are a breed of drivers who will honk as soon as the red light turns green!! Forget the fact they are like 20 cars behind the green light and will have to wait for a little while before they can start moving. They will start honking like it was the Annual Car Horn Honking Festival. All one can do is give them the finger
..and then hope its not a gang of rowdies inside the car who will come out and beat you to pulp.
I myself have not been a saint either when it comes to following road rules. The other day I was late for work and I was in a big hurry.. I stopped at a red light but there were no vehicles coming from the other direction. So I looked around and ran thro' the light. As you'd have guessed a scooter suddenly came zooming in from out of nowhere. The driver was a middle aged guy and he screamed at me and called me an "Idiot..fool...mumble mumble..grumble.. ." I could not catch the rest of his curse words but I'm sure they must have not been very complimentary.
By contrast back home in Aizawl people are generally more careful drivers. Probably this has to with the winding and steep roads and people drive with more caution although there are certain exceptions to this rule. Also drivers are more polite and respect the rules of the road - I have a picture here taken on my last trip home. I was in a taxi down the steep and winding Durtlang road and there was a huge traffic jam and vehicles were lined up end to end down the road. The right lane meant for vehicles leading up was free but not a single vehicle broke the lane to overtake the other vehicle.
There is also another breed of drivers - the slow ones. They drive so slowly that if you are driving behind them you have time to get down from your vehicle ,check the tires, smoke a cigarette, update your blog and they'd still be only 2 feet away from you. Most of these drivers I've noticed are women drivers. And no don't get me started on women drivers. Seriously. And on that sexist note I shall now drive away into the sunset thro' these innumerable red lights that life throws at ya!
And don't get me started on autorickshaws and their obnoxious drivers. Well actually you have - If you get into an accident involving an autorickshaw you are automatically always in the wrong regardless of the fact that the auto driver was driving while simultaneously ogling the girls in his back seat and had run through 3 red lights in the wrong direction and was also smoking an aromatic beedi . Try arguing with an auto driver - by the end of the argument he would have you convinced he was holier than Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul combined.
And then you have the green light honkers - they are a breed of drivers who will honk as soon as the red light turns green!! Forget the fact they are like 20 cars behind the green light and will have to wait for a little while before they can start moving. They will start honking like it was the Annual Car Horn Honking Festival. All one can do is give them the finger
..and then hope its not a gang of rowdies inside the car who will come out and beat you to pulp.
I myself have not been a saint either when it comes to following road rules. The other day I was late for work and I was in a big hurry.. I stopped at a red light but there were no vehicles coming from the other direction. So I looked around and ran thro' the light. As you'd have guessed a scooter suddenly came zooming in from out of nowhere. The driver was a middle aged guy and he screamed at me and called me an "Idiot..fool...mumble mumble..grumble.. ." I could not catch the rest of his curse words but I'm sure they must have not been very complimentary.
By contrast back home in Aizawl people are generally more careful drivers. Probably this has to with the winding and steep roads and people drive with more caution although there are certain exceptions to this rule. Also drivers are more polite and respect the rules of the road - I have a picture here taken on my last trip home. I was in a taxi down the steep and winding Durtlang road and there was a huge traffic jam and vehicles were lined up end to end down the road. The right lane meant for vehicles leading up was free but not a single vehicle broke the lane to overtake the other vehicle.
There is also another breed of drivers - the slow ones. They drive so slowly that if you are driving behind them you have time to get down from your vehicle ,check the tires, smoke a cigarette, update your blog and they'd still be only 2 feet away from you. Most of these drivers I've noticed are women drivers. And no don't get me started on women drivers. Seriously. And on that sexist note I shall now drive away into the sunset thro' these innumerable red lights that life throws at ya!
